Zero restore mechanism



March 3, 1964 H. LUNDQUIST 3,123,292

ZERO REsToRE MECHANISM Filed sept. 12, 1960 sheets-sheet 1 :E IEI 1 I'IIE| E March 3, 1964 H. LUNDQUlsT 3,123,292

ZERO REsToRE MEcHANIsM Filed Sept. l2. 1960 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 :EIE 3 MarCh 3, 1964 l. H. LUNDQUlsT ZERO REsToRE MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. l2, 1960 III5 5 March 3, 1964 l. H. LUNDQUlsT 3,123,292

ZERO REsToRE: MECHANISM Filed sept. 12. 1960 a sheets-sheet 4 March 3, 1964 l. H. LUNDQUIST 3,123,292

ZERO RESTORE MECHANISM Filed Sept. l2, 1960 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 3, 1964 l. H. LUNDQUlsT 3,123,292

ZERO REsToRE MECHANISM Filed sept. 12. 1960 e sheets-sheet e March 3, 1964 l. H. LUNDQUIST 3,123,292

ZERO RESTORE MECHANISM Filed Sept. 12, 1960 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 March 3, 1964 l; H. LUNDQUlsT ZERO RESTORE MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Sept. l2. 1960 Hlm-Hlm! lWll llmll IW- H Mlm United States Patent' O 3,123,292 ZERO RESTRE MECHANISM Ingemar H. Lundquist, Oakland, Calif., assign'or, by

mesne assignments, to International Postal Supply Corporation, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Sept. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 55,402 16 Claims. (Cl. 23S-101) This invention relates to a metered mailing machine and more particularly to means for selectively restoring the selector unit and mechanism controlled thereby to zero.

rl`he present invention is an improvement of a metered mailing machine of the type disclosed in Patent No. 3,107,854 issued to Ingemar H. Lundquist October 22, 1963 and in Patent No. 3,062,133 issued to Ingemar H. Lundquist et al. November 6, 1962. In this type of mailing machine the amount of prepaid postage to be printed on envelopes or on strips of tape for afxture on packages or other bulky mail matter is settable in the machine by a manual adjustment of the selector mechanism. Upon adjustment of the selector mechanism, the value is visually indicated and the type wheels in the rotary printing head are accordingly adjusted to printing position. At the same time, mechanism is conditioned to effect a positive and a negative registration of the value in the selector mechanism in the ascending and the descending registers, respectively, of the machine, upon initiation of each postage metering operation.

Under certain conditions, it is desirable that the selector mechanism be restored to the zero setting following each operation of the machine, for example, when the amount of prepaid postage varies for each piece of bulky mail matter or package upon which a printed tape strip is to be applied. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a metered mailing machine with a zero resetting device for the selector mechanism thereof.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a selectively operable zero resetting mechanism for the selector mechanism of a metered mailing machine.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a metered mailing machine with a control means for effecting an automatic Zero resetting operation of the selector mechanism.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a selectively operable means for automatically restoring the numeral type wheels of a metered mailing machine to a zero representative print position when displaced therefrom and subsequent to each machine operation.

ther objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FiG. 1 is a frontal, elevational view of a metered mailing machine with the cover of the base portion broken away to show the tape feed mechanism and the control means therefor.

FlG, 2 is a detailed showing of the tape feed control disabling means.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view of the postage meter showing the selector mechanism including the register and rotary indicia print drum.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevational view of the selector mechanism of the postage meter, the view being taken on the plane indicated by line 4 4 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the postage meter showing the manually settable controls for the selector mechanism and the register dials differentially settable thereby, the view being taken on the plane indicated by line 5 5 in FIG. 4.

ICC

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevational view of the metered mailing machine showing the main drive mechanism for the indicia and auxiliary rotary print drums and the selector zero resetting mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevational view of the postage meter unit showing the selector zero resetting actuator, the View being taken on the plane indicated by line '7 7 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a sectional elevational view of the zero resetting mechanism showing the clutch controlled actuating means thereof, the view being taken on the planes indicated by lines 8 8 in FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional elevational View of the selector zero resetting mechanism showing the control therefor actuated by the tape feed control mechanism, the View being taken on the planes indicated by lines 9 9 in FlG. 6.

FIG. 10 is a plan View of a portion of the selector zero resetting mechanism including the drive means therefor.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional elevational view of the selector zero resetting mechanism, the view being taken on the planes indicated by lines 11 11 in FIG. 10.

FlG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional elevational view of the selector zero resetting mechanism showing the main drive clutch-engaging mechanism in the clutch-engaging position, the View being taken on the planes indicated by lines 12 12 in FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevational view of the Zero resetting mechanism showing the actuating clutch therefore and the clutch-engaging means.

FIG. 14 is a longitudinal sectional elevational view of the zero resetting mechanism showing the actuating clutch in its disengaged condition and the clutch-engaging control means locked in its inactive position, the view being taken on the plane indicated by line 14-14 in FIG. 10.

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 14, showing the actuating clutch in its engaged condition.

General Description The invention is disclosed as embodied in a metered mailing machine having a base portion 1t) (FIG. 1), a postage meter unit 12 detachably mounted upon the base portion 1t), and a housing 14 secured on base portion 10 and enclosing the drive mechanism for controlling the synchronous cyclic rotation of the auxiliary print drum, generally indicated at 15, and the postage indicia print drum indicated at 16. The auxiliary print drum 15 is supported within housing 14, while the indicia print head 16 is journalled within the postage meter unit 12 and each Of the print heads is positioned for cooperation with the endless conveyer belt 17 running over similar pulleys 18 suitably journalled within the base portion 1t). As each envelope or strip of tape is moved into engagement with the conveyor belt 17 for conveyance, to the right in FIG. l, a synchronous cyclic rotation of print heads 15 and 16 is effected for the printing of a postmark impression on the envelope or tape strip.

Tape Feed Control Mechanism The tape feed mechanism, generally indicated at 20 in FIG. l, and the control means therefor, generally indicated at 21, are supported upon the base plate 22 within base portion 10, which is enclosed by the cover 23, An electric motor (not shown) is supported on base plate 22 within the cover 23 of base portion 10 and serves to impart continuous rotation to the main drive shaft 24 (FIGS. 1 and 6) through the worm and worm gear 25. Rotation of the shaft 24 is transmitted to the shaft 26 of the postage meter driving mechanism (FIG. 6) by means of the conventional overload clutch 27 and the timing belt 2S which is carried by the toothed pulley 29 and similar toothed pulley 30.` Pulley 29 is secured to the driven side of the overload clutch 27, whereas pulley 3Q is rotatably mounted upon the shaft 2o and is integral with the driving side of the main drive clutch 31 of well-known construction, the operation of which will be described hereinafter.

At its outer end, main drive shaft 24 (FIG. l) carries gears 3d and 36. Gear 34 serves through gear train 3S to drive the belt 17 while gear 36 becomes effective, upon engagement of the normally inactive rack 37 therewith, to cause a single operation of the tape feed mechanism 21d. In order to initiate an operation of the tape feed mechanism 2d, either of a pair of similarly shaped keys 33 is pushed inwardly of the machine to impart a lateral translation to the link 39 (to the right in FIG. l). Whereupon, the shoulder 42 of link 39, in engagement with the ear i1 of camming member 49, rocks camming member itl counterclockwise, raising the rack 37 to engage the teeth thereon with the teeth of the gear 36. The teeth of the rack 37 will remain enmeshed with the teeth of gear 36 until near the end of the extent of the movement of the rack T37. As the rack 37 reaches the extent of its movement, the teeth thereon become disengaged from the teeth of the gear 36 and the camming .ember fili returns clockwise to the position shown in FiG. l, so that the ear 41 formed thereon is again in operative relation with the shoulder LEZ formed in link 39. Also, immediately upon disengagement of the teeth of rack 37 with the gear 36, the rack 37 returns to the right to its normally inactive position under the urgency of spring 43.

Inasmuch as the tape feed mechanism 2t? forms no pertinent part of the present invention, a description thereof is not believed to be necessary. However, under certain conditions, the controls for the actuating mechanism 21 of the tape feed mechanism YZtl are disabled by the rocking of an arm 46 (FIGS. l and 2) by mechanism to be hereinafter described. As the arm i6 is rocked counterclockwise, a laterally projecting ear 47 of the arm 46, engaging the underside of the free end portion of the control link 39, raises the link to remove the shoulder 42 thereof out of operative engagement with the ear 41 on camming member 4t).

Accordingly, the foregoing description of the tape feed actuating and control mechanism 21 is believed to be sufficient for an understanding of the operation thereof. However, for a more complete description of the tape feed mechanism and its controls, reference is to be had to the afore-mentioned Patent No. 3,062,113.

S election Mechanism Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the postage meter unit 12 is ofthe type commonly referred to as a four-bank meter in which a maximum of 359.991/2 in prepaid postage may be set up in the selector mechanism. In order to adjust the selector mechanism of the postage meter unit 12 to represent the desired amount of prepaid postage, the selector wheels are selectively rotated until the desired value is visually indicated in the corresponding sight openings 51 in the register cover 52. At the same time the corresponding type wheels S3 in the indicia print drum 16 are adjusted in accordance with the visual indication in the sight openings S1. Likewise, an adjustment of each of the selector Wheels 5h effects an axial translation of the corresponding ten-tooth selection gear 54 on its square supporting shaft 55 relative to a series of stepped teeth (not shown) on actuator drum 56. Thereafter, upon a cyclic` rotation of the indicia print drum 16 to effect an impression ofthe selected postage value on a piece of mail matter conveyer by belt 17, the actuator drum 56 and the stepped teeth thereon operate in a well-known manner to effect a registration of this same postage value in the descending and ascending registers (not shown) in the postage meter unit 12.

Each of the dials eti, one for each of the selector wheels 5t), is differentially adjusted in accordance with the adjustment of the corresponding selector wheel S0 to provide the visual indication of the selected postage value in the corresponding sight opening 51. The dials 60 are coaXially and rotatably mounted on shaft 61 secured at its ends in register cover 52. On the peripheral surface of the units of cents, tens of cents, and dollar dials 60 are the numerals .O and l" to 9, While on .the peripheral surface of the mills dial titi` (the right-hand dial in FIG. 3) there are but two designations, that of the filigree representative Vof the 0 position of the dial and a 1/2 designation.

The selector Wheels Sti are coaxially and rotatably mounted in equally spaced relationship on the shaft 62 supported at its respective ends in flanges 63 and 64 of U-shaped bracket 65 secured within the framework of the meter unit. As each selector wheel 5t) is manually rotated in a clockwise direction from the zero representative position shown in FIG. 4, the associated rack slide 66 is moved to the right, thereby imparting a similar angular rotation to the corresponding dial et?. For this purpose, the teeth of the left-hand rack portion 67 of slides 66 mesh with the teeth of the gears ed which are secured on the wheels 5@ concentric therewith, While the teeth of the right-hand rack portion 69 of the slides mesh with the gears 7@ carried by the dials 61B. Notches are provided in the peripheral surface of the integrally formed hub '71 of each of the selector wheels 5) and cooperate with the tooth on the associated spring-urged detent pawl 72 to resiliently retain each of the Wheels dit and corresponding dials dit in each angularly rotated position thereof. There are two such notches in the hub 71 of the wheel 50 which controls the adjustment of the half-cent or mills order dial 6d, whereas twelve such notches are provided in the hub 71 of each of the other selector wheels 5d. Although there are twelve detent notches in the hubs 71 of the units of cents, tens of cents, and dollar wheels 5t?, only ten of these notches are utilized since the rotation of these wheels in either direction is limited by the engagement of one end or the other of the left-hand rack portion 67 with the corresponding abutment 73V or 74.

As the selector wheels Sti are rotated clockwise from the 0 representative position shown in FIG. 4 to effect a visual indication of the digits of a desired postage value, the corresponding selection slides Sti (FIGS. 3 and 4) are differentially adjusted in accordance with the incremental rotation of the Wheels 5@ to enable the registration of the value in the ascending and descending registers and to adjust the type wheels 53 in print drum 16. A series of similar parallel elongated slots 82 is provided in each selection slide Si? for engagement with respective rods 83 which serve to guide the slide in its endwise movement, each rod 83 passing through the corresponding aligned slots 82 and being secured at its ends in the legs or side frame members S4 and 85 of the U-shaped bracket 86 secured in the framework of the meter unit. To control the endwise adjustment of the selection slides Si?, an upwardly extended portion 81 of each slide is provided with rack teeth along its upper edge which are enmeshed with the gear 63 of the correspondingselector wheel Si). Upon endwise adjustment of each slide Si), to the left from the zero or normally inactive position shown in FIG. 4, the associated tentooth gear 54 is moved laterally to be differentially positioned relativeto the stepped teeth on the actuator drum 56. Thereafter, upon each cyclic rotation of the actuator drum S6, the value is subtracted from the prepaid postage value in the descending register, preset by an authorized postal otiicial, and is also accumulated in the ascending register of the meter unit 12.

The selection slides Si) are ordinally arranged in 'accordance with the ordinal arrangement of the selector Wheels 50 and are positioned, one adjacent the other from right to left in FIG. 3, with the mills or half-cent slide being positioned adjacent leg 84 of U-shaped bracket 86. As each selection slide 80 is selectively differentially adjusted, the corresponding ordinal type wheel setting slide 90 is likewise adjusted to control the adjustment of the corresponding type wheel 53 in accordance with the value indicated in the register dials 60. The slides 90 are ordinally arranged from left to right in FIG. 3, one adjacent the other, i.e., the half-cent slide lies adjacent the inner surface of the leg S5 of U-shaped bracket 86 and each slide 9i) is provided with a series of slots, similar to the slots 82 in the selection slides 80, and is similarly mounted for endwise movement on rods 83. At its rightmost end (FIG. 4), each of the type wheel setting slides 90 is provided with the upwardly extended portion 91 of a graduated length, the height of the extended portion 91 of the half-cent setting slide 90 being the highest, while that of each adjacent slide 9i) is shorter by equal increments. Similarly, each of the selection slides 80 is provided with an upwardly extended finger 92, the end portion of which projects laterally for engagement in a suitable notch in the top edge surface of the extended portion 91 of the corresponding ordinal type wheel setting slide 90. Thus, it becomes apparent that each increment of movement of the selection slide titl will impart a like increment of movement to the corresponding type wheel setting slide 9i).

The lower extremity of the depending portion 93 of each type wheel setting slide 9i) (FIG. 3) extends angularly downwardly forming a rack, the teeth of which extend laterally in a plane parallel to the plane of movement of the slides and are enmeshed with the corresponding one of the gears 94. The gears 94 are coaxially mounted for rotation on shaft 95 supported in bracket 96 and form one set of a pendent train of three sets of gears. In the normally inactive or full-cycle position of the rotary print drum 16, the lowermost set of pendent gears (not shown) is engaged with a set of gears within the print drum 16 for control of the adjustment of the type wheels 53. However, upon initiation of each postage metering operation and prior to rotation of the indicia print head 16, the lowermost set of pendent gears is rocked out of engagement with the corresponding type wheel gears in a well-known manner, after which the type wheels 53 are locked in their adjusted printing position. Thus, it can be seen that upon adjustment of each selection slide $0 by its selector wheel 50, the associated selection gear 54 is dilerentially positioned relative to the stepped teeth on actuator drum 56 and the corresponding type wheel setting slide 9i) is likewise adjusted to set the associated type wheel 53 in accordance with the value indicated in the corresponding dial 60.

Means are provided for locking the type wheel setting slides 90 and, therefore, selection slides di against movement during a postage metering operation, thereby preventing rotation of the selector wheels Si) to change the value registration in the dials 61D and a coincident readjustment of the ten-tooth gears 54. For this purpose, the bellcrank lili) (FIGS. 3 and 4) is secured on shaft 161 and is provided with a knife edge 192 extending along the top edge of the horizontally disposed arm 163 of bellcrank 100, the length of the knife edge 102 being sufficient to span the lower edges of the four type wheel setting slides 9i). There are two V notches provided in the lower edge of the half-cent slide 90, one for each adjusted position thereof, whereas each of the other three slides 90 is provided with ten such V notches in the lower edge thereof, one for each of the ten adjusted positions of these slides. Following the incremental adjustment of each of the selection slides 80 and, therefore, a like adjustment of the corresponding slides 90, the initiation of a cyclic postage metering operation renders mechanism (not shown) effective to rock shaft 101 and bellcrank 11i@ counterclockwise, as viewed in FIG. 3, to engage knife edge 102 in the aligned V notches of the adjusted type wheel setting slides 90, thereby locking the slides against movement. Throughout the cycle of meter operation, bellcrank 10i) is retained in its locking position `and is not restored to the inoperative position shown in FIG. 3 until the end of the operation cycle.

The foregoing description of the selection mechanism is believed to be sufficient for an understanding of the present invention, however, for a more complete description, reference is to be had to the afore-mentioned Patent No. 3,107,854.

Cyclic Drive Mechanism As stated hereinbefore, the postage meter unit 12 is detachably secured upon the base portion 10 of the metered mailing machine. Upon securing the postage meter unit 12 in its operative position upon base portion 1d, the power-driven or actuating mechanism (not shown) for the meter unit is operatively connected to the driving unit, generally indicated at 107, secured on the driving shaft 26 (FIGS. 6 and l0). Generally, the actuating mechanism for the meter unit 12 comprises a gear rotatably mounted upon the shaft on which the indicia print head 16 is secured and is enmeshed with the gear 108 of the driving unit 197, a notched disk for cooperation with the Geneva wheel 1119 of the driving unit 107 and a gear adapted to become enmeshed with the mutilated gear 11@ of the driving unit 107, the notched disk and lastmentioned gear of the actuating mechanism being secured on the indicia print head supporting shaft.

Upon engagement of the main driving clutch 31, the driving unit 157 becomes effective to control the cyclic operation of the postage meter unit 12 in a well-known manner, as fully described in the Patent No. 3,107,854. Rotation of the gear 1118 of the driving unit 167 immediately effects a rocking movement of the pendent train of gears about shaft to disengage the gears from the type wheel gears in the indicia print head 16 and eifects movement of locking bellcrank 160 to its active position. During this phase of the cyclic operation of the meter unit, the Geneva wheel 109 is effective to prevent rotation of the indicia print head supporting shaft, followed im-.

mediately by the meshing of the teeth of the mutilated gear 11@ with the teeth of the associated gear secured on the print head supporting shaft to impart a cyclic rotation thereto. Engagement of the main driving clutch 31 also effects cyclic rotation of the auxiliary print drum 15 in synchronism with the indicia print drum 16. Rotation of the auxiliary print drum 15 is controlled in the same manner as that of indicia print drum 16, wherein the Geneva wheel 111 (FIGS. 6, l() and ll), similar to Geneva wheel 1619, and the mutilated gear 112, similar to gear 110, are secured on drive shaft 26 and cooperate, respectively, with notched disk 113 and gear 114 secured on the shaft 115 which carries auxiliary print drum 15. IShaft 115 is journalled at its one end and adjacent its other end in the vertically extended parallel flanges 116 and 118, respectively, of the U-shaped bracket 11'7, which is supported within the framework of the machine by securing the web portion 119 thereof to an extension of the meter supporting plate 12d, which, in turn, is secured to cover 23 of the base portion 1t). Main drive shaft 26 is also supported within the U-shaped bracket 117, the ends of the shaft 26 being journalled in respective anges 121 and 122 formed upwardly in spaced parallel relationship from, and at a right angle to, an extension of the web portion 11g of the bracket.

An engagement of the main drive clutch 31 may be effected in either of two ways, by the movement of an envelope or similar mail matter into frictional engagement with the endless belt 17, from the left as viewed in FIG. l, or by the initiation of an operation of the tape feed mechanism Ztl under the control of the actuating mechanism 21. Clutch 31 is normally retained in its inactive or disengaged condition by the engagement of the tooth 125 of clutch-engaging pawl 126 with the shoulder 127 formed in the peripheral edge of clutch control plate 128 (FIG. l2). Clutch-engaging pawl or bellcrank 126 is pivotally mounted at 129 on an L-shaped ange 131) of aV U-sha'ped bracket 131'which is mounted on the web portion 119 of the bracket 117 and is secured to the extension of the meter supporting plate 12d. Normally, the tooth 125 of bellcrank 126 is maintained in engagement with the shoulder 127 of control plate 128 by a spring 132 which is secured at its one end to the horizontally disposed arm oi the bellcrank 126 and is supported at its other end on the extended end of a pin 133 secured in the L-shaped angeslltl and 13d of U-snaped bracket 131. The leading edge of the lateral projection 135 of the vertically disposed arm ot bellcrank 126 normally abuts the shoulders 13d and 137 formed in the lower edge of the respective clutch control links 13S and 139. Upon movement of either clutch control link 13S or 139, to the left in FIG. 12, against the urgency of the respective springs 14d or 141, clutch control bellcrank 126 is rocked counterclockwise to the position shown in FIG. 12, thereby disengaging the tooth 125 from the shoulder 127 on the clutch control plate 128 to effect engagement of the clutch 31.

Movement of control link133 to its active position is under the control of the tape feed mechanism Ztl (FIG. l). At its leftmost end (FIGS. l0, ll and 12),'link ,13S is pivotally mounted at 145 on the upper end of one arm of the bellcrank 146 secured on one end of the sleeve 147 which is rockably and nonslidably mounted on'y shaft 143 and, at its other end, carries arm 149 secured thereon. Adjacent its free end, arm 141-9 (FIG. 9) carries pin 15@ engaged in the elongated slot 151 in the upper end of the vertically disposed slide 152 which passes through a suitable aperture in top cover 23 and an aligned aperture in plate 12d and is mounted for vertical endwise movement by the engagement of aligned slots 153 therein with pins 154 carried by the laterally olset arm of bracket 155 secured on frame member 156 of the machine. Slide 152. is normally maintained in the raised position shown in FIG. 9 by spring 157 and the pin 1513 is maintained in engagement with the upper end of the slot 151. Movement of the slide 152 downwardly to its active position isunder the control of arm 16@ secured on the outer end of the shaft 161 which is associated with the tape feed mechanism and is rocked immediately upon operation of the tape feed actuator 21. In the normal condition of the parts, pin 1o?. on arm 161? is arcuately spaced suiliciently 'from the top edge of the lug 163 on the lower end of slide 152 to enable the tape feed mechanism 241 to move a severed strip of tape into frictional engagement with the endless belt 17. Thereafter, further clockwise rocking movement of the arm 160 moves slide 152 down- Wardly to eliect engagement of the main drive clutch 31. Thus, the engagement of the tape strip with the belt is in timed relation to the cyclic rotation of the auxiliary print drum 15 and the indicia print drum 16.

As stated above, the engagement of the main drive clutch 31 may also be controlled by the rictional engagement of an envelope or other piece of mail matter with the left end of the endless belt 1,7 (FlG. 1) to initiate cylic operation of the auxiliary print drum 15 Vand indicia print drum 16 in timed relation to the movement of the envelope by belt 17, to the right as viewed in FIG. 1. As the leading edge ot an envelope moves into engagement with the endless belt 17, the pressure foot 164 (FIGS. 6 and 10) is also engaged thereby. Pressure foot 164 is secured on the outer end of clutch control shaft 14S and is positioned adjacent the edge of the belt 17 in a manner such that, immediately upon engagement of the envelope with the endless belt 17, the subsequent movement or" the envelope thereby rocks pressure foot 164 and therefore shaft 14S, counterclockwise as viewed from the lower end in FIG. 10. Upon such rocking movement of the shaft 14d, the arm 165 secured thereon and carrying pin 166 for pivotally supporting the left-hand end of clutch control link 139, moves the link '8 139m the'left (FIGL` 12) to rock bellcrank 126, Vthereby releasing the clutch 31 for cyclic rotation.

Main drive clutch 31 becomes disengaged upon completion of a single cycle of rotation of the auxiliary print drum 15 and the indicia print drum 16. To effect the disengagement of the clutch 31, the free end of each of the clutch control links 13d and 139 extends horizontally into the rotational path of the pin 167 (FIG. 12) carried by the driven side of the clutch. Following approximately 180 of clockwise rotation of the clutch 31, pin 167 engages the extended end of each of the control links 138 and 139, rocking them counterclockwise about their pivotal connections 1415 and 166, respectively, thereby removing the respective shoulder 136 or 137 of the actively moved link 138 or 139 from engagement with the ear 135 on clutch-engaging pawl 125. Thus, pawl 126 is released to the urgency of its spring 132, rocking the tooth 125 into position for engagement by the shoulder 127 as the clutch 31 reaches its full-cycle position, whereupon clutch 31 becomes disengaged to terminate rotation of the print drums 15 and 16.

Zero Resettz'ng M echamsm There are certain conditions under which it becomes desirable to effect a clearing or zeroizing of the selection i echanism in the postage meter unit 12. Such a clearing or zeroizing operation includes a rotation of each adjusted selector wheel 5@ in a counterclockwise direction (FIG. 4) to restore the corresponding dial dit to its O setting and the corresponding numeral type wheel 53 from an adjusted position to the G point position, it being understood that the half-cent dial 6th and corresponding type wheel 53 is restored from the adjusted position to the zero representative position indicated by the filigree designation. At the same time, each differentially adjusted selection gear 54 will likewise be restored to the inactive position with respect to the stepped teeth on actuator drum 56.

One such condition wherein a zeroizing operation of the selection mechanism becomes desirable is that of a series of tape feed operations during which the postage indicia to be printed on each taperstrip is of a different value. It will be recalled that each angular increment of rotation of a selector wheel Sli in a clockwise direction (FIG. 4) will effect a like increment of the corresponding dial di). and will eect a differential endwise adjustment of the corresponding selection slide Sti. Upon endwise adjustment of each selection slide 80, the associated selection gear 54 is differentially positioned relative to the actuator drum 56 and the slide gli also imparts a similar endwise movement to the corresponding type wheel Vsetting slide 911 to adjust the associated type wheel 53 in accordance with the visual indication on the corresponding dial et). Thus, it becomes apparent that following the endwise adjustment of one or more oi the selection slides S0 to the left,. as viewed in FIG. 4, the return of each of the adjusted selection slides and the corresponding type Wheel setting slides 9i?, to the right to the normally inactive or zero representative position thereof, will eiect a limited counterclockwise rotation of the associated selector wheel 5t). Consequently, the corresponding numeral wheel dials dit will be returned to the O setting including thehal-cent dial et) which is returned to the 0 setting represented by the filigree designation.

For this purpose, a resetting slide 17d (FIGS. 3 and 4) is mounted within the U-shaped bracket parallel with,

and between, the innermost selection slide 80 and the corresponding innermost type wheel setting slide 90. Resetting slide 171i is provided with a series of elongated slots 171, similar to the slots 82 in the selection slides 8l), which serve to support the slide 17@ for endwise movement on respective rods 33. To control the endwise movement of slide 171i, a laterally odset member 172, adjacent the left end of slide 171%, extends upwardly and is provided along its upper edge with a horizontally disposed rack, the teeth of which are enmeshed with a broad-faced gear 173 rotatable on shaft 62. Also enmeshed with the gear 173 is a gear sector 174 (FIGS. 3, and 7) which is keyed or otherwise secured on the reduced diametral end portion of a headed pin 175 journalled in a bearing bushing 177, secured on, and projecting each side of, a depending extended portion of the flange 64 of U-shaped bracket 65. Gear sector 174 is retained in position on pin 175 by the engagement of a suitable clip 176 in an annular groove in the pin and is normally retained in the rocked position shown in FIG. 7 by means of a spring 178 supported at its one end on a pin 179 secured on the sector 174 and at its other end on a pin 1811 secured on the inner face of the ange 64.

Upon rocking movement of the gear sector 174 in a counterclockwise direction from the normally inactive position shown in FIG. 7, rotation is imparted to gear 173, moving slide 170 the extent of its movement to the right from the position shown in FIG. 4 to restore each adjusted slide 80 and corresponding slide 9h to the zero or nonadjusted position. The selection slides 8i) and type wheel setting slides 90 are of equal length so that in the nonadjusted position of the slides shown in FIG. 4, the left end of each slide is aligned with the left end of the adjacent slide. To effect restoration of the adjusted slides 8i) and 9@ to the nonadjusted position, resetting slide 170 is provided with an angularly disposed depending extension 184 on which a pin 185 is secured projecting on each side thereof and having its axis parallel to the normally aligned left end of the slides 8o and 911. The extension of the pin 185 each side of the extension 184 is suiiicient to span the left end of the selection slides 8@ and type wheel setting slides 90, respectively. In the normally inactive position of the resetting slide 170 and the zero representative position of the slides 80 and 90 (FiG. 4), the pin 185 is spaced from the left end of the slides sufliciently to permit the limit of their differential adjustment. It becomes readily apparent that upon the counterclockwise rocking movement of the gear sector 174 (FIG. 7) and the consequential movement of the resetting slide 1711 to the right (FIG. 4), pin 185 will engage the left end of each adjusted selection slide 811 and corresponding type wheel setting slide 99, thereby restoring the adjusted slides to their normally inactive or zero representative position. Immediately following the restoration of the slides 81B and corresponding slides 911 to the right in FIG. 4, spring 178 becomes effective to return gear sector 174 and, therefore, resetting slide 170 to their normally inactive positions.

'l`he selective actu-ation of gear sector 174 and, therefore, resetting slide 171) is under the control of a powerdriven mechanism, generally indicated at 186 (FIGS. 6, S and 9), enclosed in the housing 14 (FIG. 1) of the machine. Inasmuch as the postage meter unit .'12 is removably attached to the base portion 1t) of the machine as stated hereinbefore, the driving connection between the gear sector '174 and power-driven mechanism 186 is such that the disengagement and re-engagement of the connection may be readily accomplished. For this purpose, a diametrical slot 187 (FIG. 3) is provided in the headed end portion of pin 1175 and is adapted for engagement with the attened end extension 188 of a shaft 189'. At its one end and intermediate its ends, shaft 189 is journalled in the vertically disposed parallel flanges 19t) and 191, respectively, of a U-shaped bracket 192 secured 5 to a plate member 193 supported on the anges 1116, 118, 121 and 122 of the U-shaped bracket 117 The unsupported end of the shaft 1189 extends through a suitable opening in the cover of the housing 14 into which opening a portion ofthe meter unlit 12 is moved as it is detachably secured on the base portion 10 of the machine. As the meter unit 12 is moved into its operative position on the base portion 10i, a suitable aperture in the meter unit cover passes coaxially along shaft 189 to enable the flattened end extension 18,8` of the shaft 189 to engage in 1t) the slot 187 of pin 175. The depth of the slot 1187 in pin is such that following the engagement of the flattened end 188 of the shaft 189 in the slot, the inner wall of the bearing bushing 177 serves to retain shaft 189 in axial alignment with pin 17S during the operation of the powerdriven mechanism 186.

The operation of the power-driven mechanism 186 to control a zero resetting operation is enabled by an adjustment fof a control knob 2li@ to the Seal Only position (FIG. 1). Control knob 260 is secured on the outer end of a rockable shaft 2811 (FIGS. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and l5) supported in the vertically disposed flanges y116 and 11S of U-shaped bracket 117 and, when adjusted to the Seal Only setting, enables the operation of the power-driven mechanism 186 to effect a zero resetting of the meter selection mechanism in the second cycle following each cycle of operation of the tape feed mechanism. Control knob 21111 and therefore shaft 201 are resiliently retained in either of the two adjusted positions thereof, i.e., the Seal Only or Seal `and Meter setting, by means of a toggle spring 218 (FIGS. 8 and 10). An arm 219 secured on shaft 201, adjacent the inner surface of flange 116, carries a pin extending through an arcuate slot 2211 in tiange 116 to support one end of toggle spring 218, the other end of which embraces a pin on tlange `116.

To control the operation of the power-driven mechanism 186, a cyclically operable clutch 202 of well-known construction is provided. Ratchet 203 of the clutch 202 (FIGS. 8, 10, 13, 14 and 15) is secured -to the tooth pulley 3i?, to which the driving side of clutch 3d is also secured, and is driven continuously during operation of the metered mailing machine. Cooperating with ratchet 263 is a clutch pawl 2114 pivotally mounted at 205 on a cam disk 2116 secured on one end of a `sleeve 207 which is rotatable on shaft 26 and carries a cam disk 208 secured on the other end thereof. The cam disks 206 and 2118 secured on the respective ends :of sleeve 207 are normally inactive but are rotatable on shaft 26 upon the spring-urged engagement of the dog 2119 of clutch pawl 2114 with a tooth of the ratchet `2113.

Normally, the dog 2119 of clutch pawl 204 is maintained out of engagement with a tooth of the ratchet 203, against the urgency :of a spring 2111, by the engagement of the free end of the pawl 2114 with an angularly down- Wardly extended nose 214 (FIGS. 13 and 14) of the horizontally disposed arm 21S of a bellcrank 2116 pivotally mounted on a pin 217 on flange 116. Bellcrank 216 is rocked by mechanism to be described hereinafter to effect engagement of the clutch 262 immediately following a cyclic operation of the auxiliary print drum 1S and indicia print drum 16 during an operation of the tape feed mechanism 211. Upon engagement of clutch 202 for a Single cycle of rotation, cam disks 2116 and 208 revolve in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 13 or counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 9, and following approximately 90 of initial rotation, cam disk 2118 becomes effective to actuate the resetting mechanism 186. For this purpose, a cam follower arm 224 is rockably mounted on a shaft 225 secured at its respective ends in flange 116 of U-shaped bracket 119 and the L-shaped ilange 13@ of the U-shaped bracket 131. At its free end, arm 224 carries a roller 226 which rides upon the peripheral edge of cam 2118. Roller 226 is maintained in engagement with the peripheral surface of cam disk 208 by the engagement of the lower end of a slide 227 with the top edge of arm 224. Slide 227 is mounted for endwise movement on lia-nge `1911 (FIGS. 6 and 9) by the engagement of respective pins 228 on ange 191 in aligned slots 229 of slide 227 and is normally urged downwardly by a spring 230i.

During the counterclockwise rotation of the cam disk 2418 (FIG. 9), following the initial 90 rotation thereof, arm 224 is rocked clockwise, raising slide 227 (FIG. 6) to impart a clockwise rotation to shaft 189. A roller 231 secured on slide 227 underlies one end of a lever 23a-Lathe other end of which is provided'with a rack sector 233 enmeshed with a gear 234 secured on the shaft 189. Lever 232 is rockably mounted intermediate its ends on a pin 235 secured on flange 191 and is normally urged in Va clockwise direction by ia spring 236 which serves to maintain the one end `of lever 252 in engagement with roller 231 on slide 227. The contour of cam disk 208` is such that during the final portion of the angular rotation of the cam 2115 as the clutch 2112 returns to its full-cycle position, slide 227 and lever 232 return tothenormally inactive position shown in FIG. 6 under the urgency of the respective springs 2311 and 236. Thus, it can be seen that upon cyclic operation of clutch 252, cam disk 208 effects a clockwise rotation of the shaft 189 (FIG. 6)Y and `a counterclockwise rotation of the rack sector y174 (FIG. 7) to actuate the zero resetting slide 171). Also, immediately prior to lthe return of the ciutch 202 and cam disk 2118 to the full-cycle poistionk thereof, the cam 263 enables the return of the rack sector 174 and the resetting slide 1711, controlled thereby, to their inactive position (FIGS. 4 and 7).

Following each tape feed operation, selectively operable means become effective, under control of the main drive clutch 31, to effect an engagement of the resetting clutch 252 to zeroize the meter selection mechanism. 1t will be recalled that upon the initiation of an operation of the tape feed mechanism 211.(FiG. l), slide 152 is moved downwardly in FlG. 9 to move clutch control link 133 to the left to the position shown in FiG. 12, thereby effecting engagement of the main drive clutch 31 for a single cycle of operation. Upon engagement of clutch 31, the driving unit 167 on shaft 26 (FIG. 10) eects a cyclic rotation of the indicia printing drum 16. At the same time, Geneva lwheel i111 and mutilated gear 112 on shaft 26 also control a cyclic rotation of shaft 115 and the auxiliary print drum 115, carried thereby, in synchronism Withindicia print drum 16.

If the control knob 21H1 had been previously adjusted to the Seal Only setting (IFIG. 1), bellcrank 215 will be rocked, counterclockwise from the position shown in FIG. 13 to that shown in FIG. 15, to effect an engagement of resetting clutch 202, immediately following the cycle of operation of main drive clutch 31. For this purpose, a bellcrank 241) is pivotally mounted at 241 on the upper end of `an arm 242 secured on a shaft 243 which is journalled at its one end in the flange 116 of U-shaped bracket 119 and, adjacent its other end, in the flange 134 of the U-shaped bracket :131. A lobe 244 extends downwardly from the lower edge of the horizontally disposed arm of the bellcrank 24@ adjacent the free end thereof and is adapted for cooperation with an ear 245 formed at a right angle to the horizontally disposed arm 215 of bellcrank 216. A spring 246 is supported at its upper end on a pin secured on the horizontally extended arm of the bellcrank 240 and, at its lower end, is secured on an ear formed at a right angle to the upwardly extended arm of the clutch-engaging bellcrank 216. rSpring 245 serves two purposes, that of normally urging bellcrank 216 clockwise (FIG. 14) to resiliently maintain the nose 214 in position for engagement by the free end extremity of the clutch-engaging pawl 204 and, also, that of normally maintaining the lower tip of the lobe 244 of bellcrank 240 in engagement with the top surface of the ear 245 on bellcrank 216.

To effect engagement of the resetting clutch 2112, a bellcrank 250 (FIGS. and 13) is secured on the end of shaft 243V adjacent the flange 134 and carries a roller 251, secured on the lower end of the depending arm of the bellcrank, normally engageable in an arcuate notch 252 in the peripheral surface of a full-cycle disk 253 secured on auxiliary print drum shaft 115. Engagement of the roller 251 in the notch 252 of the disk 253 serves as a detent for the auxiliary printdrum 15 in the full-cycle position thereof and is normally maintained in engagement with the notch 252, by a relatively strong spring 254 supported-'at itsone end on a pin secured to the upwardly extended arm of the bellcrank 250 and, at its other end, on a pin secured on ange 134.

tis to-be noted that the rocked position of the manually adjustable shaft 251, shown in FIG. 13, is intermediate that of each of the two adjusted positions of the shaft for a purpose to be hereinafter described and that, normally, roller 251 is engaged in the arcuate notch 252 and the lower tip of the lobe 244 on bellcrank 245 rests on top of the ear 245 of bellcrank 216. Immediately upon engagement of the main drive clutch 31 rfor a postage metering operation in connection -with the operation of the tape feed mechanism 20, full-cycle disk 253, rotating in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 13, cams roller 251 out of notch 252, thereby rocking bellcrank 25@ clockwise to the position shown. rf'hus, shaft 243 and arm 2^i2 are likewise rocked to move the horizontally disposed arm of bellcrank 24) to the right, so that lobe 244, moving from its normal position of rest on top of ear 245 of bellcrank 216, drops behind the ear under the influence of the spring 246. Thereafter, roller 251 rides on the peripheral edge of the disk 253 until the main drive clutch 31 and disk 253 complete a cycle of rotation, whereupon, the spring 254 rocks bellcrank 25o counterclockwise to return roller 251 into its normal engagement with the notch 252. Upon re-engagement of roller 251 in notch 252, bellcrank 25e rocks shaft 243 and arm 242 to move bellcrank 241i to the left, as viewed in FIG. 15. As bellcrank 240 is actuated, the lobe 244, in engagement with ear 245, rocks bellcrank 216 counterclockwise, removing the nose 214 from its active engagement with the free end of the clutch control paWl 264 to effect engagement of clutch 202.

As the lobe 244 of bellcrank 24d (FIGS. 13 and 15) drops behind ear 245 of clutch-engaging bellcrank 216 to subsequently effect an engagement of clutch 252, a single cycle of operation of the clutch 292 is ensured by the engagement of the rightwardly extended end 255 of the horizontally disposed arm of bellcrank 241B With a pin 256 secured on one arm 257 of a lever 258. Lever 258 is rockably mounted on shaft 225 in juxtaposition with cam follower arm 224 and adjacent its rightmost end carries a roller 259 which, in the full-cycle position of the clutch 202, is engaged in a relatively deep notch in the peripheral edge of the driven disk 2%. Roller 259 is resiliently retained in the notch of disk 266 by means of a spring 261 (FIGS. 8 and 9) secured at its upper end on a pin mounted on liange 116 and at its lower end on a pin carried by a link 262 pivotally mounted at 263 on the free end of arm264 of the lever 258. Thus, it can be seen that immediately upon engagement of clutch 202, roller 259 is cammed out of the notch in disk 2116, rocking lever 258 and pin 256 thereon counterclockwise (FiG. 15) to remove the lobe 244 on bellcrank 240 from its engagement with the ear 245 on clutch-engaging bellcrank 216. Thereafter, bellcrank'216 is rocked clockwise under the infiuence of spring 246 to engage the nose 214 with the outer peripheral edge of the arcuate clutch pawl 254, where it remains for approximately rotation of the disk 266. As the pawl 2114 is rotated out of engagement with the nose 214, bellcrank 216 rocks further clockwise, positioning the nose 214 thereof for engagement by the free end of the clutch-engaging pawl 204, thereby effecting disengagement of the clutch 252.

immediately upon engagement of resetting clutch 252 -at the termination of a cycle of postage meter operation incident to an operation of the tape feed mechanism 2i), the rocking of the lever 258 by cam disk 256 becomes effective to preclude the initiation of an operation of the tape feed mechanism 21) during the cyclic operation of the zero resetting mechanism 156. Link 262, pivotally supported at its upper end at 263 on lever 258 (FIG. 9), extends downwardly through the rweb portion 119 of U- shaped bracket 117, meter supporting plate 1251 and the top of cover 23 within an aperture 265. At its lower end,

13 A link 262 (FlGS. 2 and 9) is pivotally mounted at 266 on an arm 267 secured on a shaft 26S, which is journalled in the framework of the machine and carries arm 46 secured thereon.

It becomes apparent, therefore, that immediately upon engagement of clutch l202 the clockwise rocking movement of lever 258 (FIG. 9) moves link 262 downwardly to rock shaft 266,'clockwise as viewed in FIG. 9 or counterclockwise in 11153.72, during the initial or 90 angular rotation, approximately of the cam disk 2418. As the shaft 26S is rocked, arm 46 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is likewise rocked so that the ear 47 thereon, engaging the lower edge of the free end of the link 39, rocks the link 39 in a clockwise direction to remove the shoulder `42 from its active engagement with the ear 41 of the camming member 4t) associated with the tape feed actuator mechanism 21. As the resetting clutch 2112 continues its cycle of rotation, the roller 259* on lever 258` (FlGS. 14 and l5) rides on the peripheral edge of cam disk `2116 to retain the tape feed actuator control link 39 disabled during the Zero resetting operation and until disk 206 returns to its full-cycle position.

Upon adjustment of the manually settable control knob Zilli to the Seal Only setting, means become effective to disable the clutch control link 139 (-FlG. 12) so that the counterclockwise rocking of the shaft 148, by the engagement of an envelope with the pressure foot 164 (FlG. l0), |will be ineffective to engage the main drive clutch 31 for a cyclic rotation of the auxiliary print drum and the indicia print drum 16. For this purpose, a laterally offset leg 272- (FlGS. 10, 11 and 12) extends angularly downwardly from the lower edge of the horizontally disposed portion of control link 139 and at its lower extremity is provided with a foot 273. The lower edge surface of the foot 273 normally lies in a plane parallel to, and adjacent, a chordal surface 274 formed on a collar 275 secured on shaft 2111. As the control knob 26d) and, therefore, shaft 2li-1 are rocked from the Seal and Meter setting, shown in FIGS. l, 1l and 12, counterclockwise to the Seal Only position, collar 275 is likewise rocked to raise the free end of the link 139, removing the shoulder 137 thereon out of engagement with the ear 135 of the clutch-engaging pawl 126. Thereafter, the reciprocation of the control link 139, by the rocking of the shaft 148, is ineffective to cause an engagement of the main drive clutch 31.

lf a plurality of envelopes is to be passed through the postage metering machine in successive order and each is to receive an impression of a like amount of postage, it becomes desirable to prevent operation of the Zero resetting mechanism 186. llt also becomes desirable to prevent the clearing or zeroizing of the postage meter selection mechanism during a series of tape feed operations wherein a like amount of postage is to be printed on each tape strip provided thereby. Upon adjustment of the control knob 2510 (FIG. l) in a clockwise direction from the Seal Only setting to the Seal and Meter setting, the chordal surface 274 of the collar 275 (FIGS. ll and 12) will be parallel to, and spaced suciently from, the lower edge of the foot 275 of leg 272 to enable spring 141 to retain shoulder 137 on clutch control link 139 in active engagement with ear 135 on the clutchengaging pawl 126. Thereafter, the rocking of the shaft 148 by each envelope, as it is moved into engagement with the endless belt 17, to move clutch control link 139 to the left in FIG. 1l2 or the movement of the clutch control link 138 to the position shown in FIG. l2 by an operation of the tape feed mechanism, lwill effect an engagement of the main drive clutch 31 and the cyclic operation of the auxiliary print drum 15 and the indicia print drum 16. Also, as the control knob 2011 is moved from the Seal Only position to the Seal and Meter position, an arm 276 secured on shaft 201 is rocked from the position shown in FIG. 15 to that shown in fFlG. 14,

lll

whereby a pin 277 carried on arm 276 is positioned in a suitable notch 278 of the angularly downwardly extended arm 279 of bellcrank 241).

As shaft 261 and arm 276 are rocked, clockwise from the position thereof shown in FIG. 15, the pin 277 engages the edge surface 280 of the arm 279, rocking bellcrank 240 counterclockwise to remove the lobe 244 thereon from its active engagement with the ear 245 on clutchengaging bellcrank 216. Pin 277, upon 4its engagement in the notch of arm 279, serves to retain bellcrank 24) in its inactive position (FIG. 14). Consequently, the oscillatory movement of bellcrank 250, sha-ft 243 and arm 242, under control of the full-cycle disk 253, will be ineffective to permit the active engagement of the lobe 244 on bellcrank 240 with ear 2145 and the subsequent rocking of bellcrank 216 to effect engagement of resetting clutch 202.

lf, for any reason it becomes desirable to clear or Zeroize the postage meter selection mechanism without an operation of the postage meter unit and the control knob 2611 has been previously adjusted to the Seal and Meter position shown in FIG. 1, a counterclockwise adjustment of the knob 2h@ to the Seal Only position immediately effects an operation of the resetting mechanism 186. During the initial movement of the control knob 211i) toward the Seal Only position, pin 277 is rocked out of notch 276 (FIG. 14), releasing bellcrank 2411 to the influence of spring 246, so that the lobe 244 of bellcrank 246 moves into a position of rest on the upper surface of the ear 245 of bellcrank 216. Immediately following the release of the bellcrank 249 to the urgency of the spring 246, further rocking movement of the knob 26@ to a position approximately midway of the two settings thereof, i.e., to the position shown in FIG. 13, enables the lobe 244 to drop into active engagement with the ear 245. As the control knob 2116` is rocked still further to the Seal Only setting (FIG. l), arm 276 comes to rest in the position shown in FIG. 15 and the shaft 243 rocks counterclockwise under the influence of spring 254 to move bellcrank 240 to the left, thereby rocking clutch control bellcrank 216 counterclockwise to effect engagement of the cyclic Zero resetting clut-ch 292.

ln order to enable the active engagement of the lobe 244 with the ear 245 by the adjustment of the manual control knob 260, a lever 284 (FIGS. l1 and 13) is secured on shaft 243 and adjacent its left end carries a live pawl 285 pivotally mounted thereon at 286. Adjacent the lower end of the live pawl 255, a V-shaped projection 237 is formed having its lower edge extending radially of the pivotal mounting 286 and the other edge inclined upwardly for engagement with the peripheral surface of the shaft 243. Normally, the upwardly inclined edge of projection 287 is maintained in engagement with shaft 243 under the urgency of a spring 28S supported at its one end in a suitable aperture in the lfree end of the live pawl 235 and, at its other end, on a pin 259 secured on lever 284 adjacent the right-hand end thereof. When the control knob 2110 is in the adjusted position shown in FIG. 1, a single tooth cam 296 secured on shaft 2111 is in the position shown in FIG, 11. However, as the control knob 200 and, therefore, shaft 201 are rocked counterclockwise from the adjusted position shown in FlGS. l and 11, the tooth of the cam 290 engages the inclined edge surface of the V-shaped projection 267 of pawl 225 (FIG. 13). Thereupon, the peripheral surface of the shaft 243 becomes the fulcrum for the pawl 235, so that pawl 285 is `rocked by the tooth of cam 294) to impart a rocking movement to lever 284 and shaft 243 in a clockwise direction. Consequently, the lobe 244 of bellcrank 240 is moved to the right (FlG. 13) to actively engage the ear 245 of clutch-engaging bellcrank 216. Upon further counterclockwise rocking movement of the knob 2li@ and associated shaft 261, the tooth of the cam 290 moves beyond the apex of the V-shaped projection 287. Thereupon, spring 254 becomes effective immediately to rock shaft 243, -movin-g bellcrank 240 to the left in` FiG. 13 to effect engagement of resetting clutch 252.

lf control knob 2% is in the Seal Only adjusted position lthereof and it becomes desirable to effect an operation of the resetting mechanism 156 to zeroize the postage meter selection mechanism without an operation of the meter unit 12, control knob 2li@ is first rocked to the Seal and Meter setting and is, thereafter, immediately returned to the Seal Only setting. As the knob 2id) is rocked clockwise from the Seal Only position (FlG. l), the radial edge of the tooth of cam 25d engages the radially extended edge of the tI-shaped projection 257, rocking live pawl 255 counterclockwise about its pivotal mounting 286 and against the urgency ofspring 2255. lrmnediately following its adjustment to the Seal and Meter position, knob 25% is returned to its initial position and the single tooth cam 295 functions to effect an engagement of the Zero resetting clutch 262 in the manner described above.

Operation In operation, the selection slides 8@ and type wheel setting slides 9) (FlGS.l 3 and 4) may be automatically and simultaneously restored from differentially adjusted positions thereof to the normally inactive or zero representative position shown in HG. 4. The return of the selection slides 3i? to the zero representative position serves to rotate the units of cents, tens of cents, and dollar dials 69 to the G indicating position and the halfcent dial (A) to the zero position indicated by the filigree. At the same time, the associated selection gears 54V are moved to their inactive position relative to the stepped teeth on the actuator drum 55. Simultaneously therewith, the type wheel setting slides 9@ will effect rotation of the half-cent type wheel 53 to the filigree printing position and each of the three higher order type wheels 53 to the 0 printing position. Movement of the slides Si) and 9d to their inactive position is controlled by the reciprocatory movement of theV resetting slide i7@ (FlG. 4), the teeth of the rack portion of which are enmeshed with the broad-faced gear 173 (FlG. 7) rotatable, first, in a clockwise direction and then in a counterclockwise direction by the oscillatory movement of the rack sector Y 174. Actuation of rack sector 174 is under the control of the zero resetting mechanism 186 and, inasmuch as the postage meter unit 12 is detachably mounted on the base portion 19 of the metering machine, the disengagement or engagement of the rack sector 174 with the shaft 159 of the zero resetting mechanism 136 is enabled by the provision of the notch 187 in one end of the shaft 175, upon which rack sector 174 is secured, and the mating flatted diametral end portion 15S of the shaft 139.

To effect actuation of rack sector 174, the teeth of the gear 234 secured on shaft 189 (HG. 6) are enmeshed with the teeth of the arcuate rack 233 formed on one end of lever 232, the other end of which overlies a roller 231 on the vertically disposed slide 227. Slide 227, having its lower end resting upon the top edge of cam follower arm 224 (FlGS. 6 and 9), is movable upwardly and downwardly with each complete revolution of cam disk 22d, following the initial 90 rotation, approximately, of a cycle of operation of the zero resetting clutch 22 (FlG. 8), thereby imparting an oscillatory movement to lever 232 and rack sector 174.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 1t), 1l and 12, each postage metering operation is controlled by the cyclic operation tof the main drive clutch 3l. which, by means of suitable gearing, effects asynchronous, cyclic rotation of auxiliary print drum 15 and indicia print drum 15. Engagement of the main drive clutch 5l may be effected in one of two ways, either by the initiation of an operation of the tape feed mechanism 2t? (FIG. 1) and the concomitant downward movement of slide 152 (FlG. 9) to actuate clutch control link 133, or by the passage of an envelope beneath the pressure foot 164 (FIG. 10) as it is moved into frictional engagement with the endless belt 17, thereby rocking shaft 143 to actuate clutch control link 139. Each'of the links 133' and 139 is effective upon movement thereof to the left (FIG. 12) to disengage the tooth 125 of clutch-engaging pawl 125 from the shoulder-127 of the clutch control plate 128 to effect engagement of the clutch 3l.

Cyclic operation of the zero resetting clutch 252 to effect a zeroizing operation of the postage meter selection mechanism may be selectively controlled by an adjustment of the control knob 25% (FG. l) to the Seal Only setting. While the knob Zilli is Vso adjusted, the lower surface of the lobe 244 of bellcrank 24@ (FlGS. 13 and l5) normally rests on top of, and in contact with, the upper surface of ear 245 on clutch-engaging bellcrank 226. To effect engagement of the clutch 252, bellcrank 25h, shaft 243 and arm 242 are initially rocked clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 13, to move the bellcrank 249 and lobe 244 thereon to the right, whereupon, spring 246 rocks bellcrank 2415 clockwise to position lobe 244 in active engagement with ear 245 of bellcrank 2id. Subsequently, bellcrank 25d, shaft 243 and arm 242 are rocked counterclockwise under the urgency of spring 254 to move bellcrank 24d to the left, as seen in FIG. 15, thereby removing the nose 214 of clutch-engaging bellcrank 216 out of engagement with the free end of clutch pawl 254. Immediately, spring 2l@ rocks pawl 254 to engage the tooth 2tl9'thereon with a tooth of the continuously rotating ratchet 203 of the clutch 202.

The rocking of the shaft 243 and movement of bellcrank 244 may be ycontrolled in either of two ways, by the adjustment of the controlV knob 2% from the oeal and Meter setting (FIG. 1) to the SealOnly setting, or by the main drive clutch 31 immediately upon termination of each cycle of operation of the clutch following the adjustment of the knob 260 to its Seal Only setting. As control knob 26h and, therefore, shaft 251 are rocked from the Seal and Meter position, cam 29) is rocked counterclockwise from the position shown in FIG. ll, so that the tooth of the cam engages the V- shaped projection 227 of live pawl 255 (FG. 13), rocking pawl 285 about shaft 243` as a fulcrurn. With the rocking of pawl 285, clockwise rotation is imparted to lever 234, shaft 243, arm 242 and bellcrank 25@ to effect engagement of the lobe 244 of bellcrank 24h' with the ear 245 on clutch control bellcrank 216. Upon further rocking movement of shaft 201, the tooth of the cam 29) moves out of engagement with the V-shaped projection 257 and spring 254'becomes effective, immediately, to impart a counterclockwise rocking movement to bellcrank 25d, shaft 243 and arm 242 to move bellcrank 24h to the left (FIG. 15), thereby effecting engagement of clutch 252. if knob Zilli is set for Seal Only and a zeroizing operation is desired, the knob may be adjusted to the Seal and Meter position and immediately returned to the Seal Only setting.

When control knob 26%) is adjusted for Seal Only," envelopes may be passed beneath pressure foot 164, thereby rocking shaft 148 counterclockwlse (FG. 12) to move clutch control link 139 to the left. However, such movement of the control link 139 will not effect engagement of the clutch 31, since collar 275 on shaft 261, when rocked counterclockwise from the position shown in FIG. 12, raises the free end of the link 139 to remove the shoulder 137 out of active engagement with ear 135 on clutchengaging bellcrank 126. Thus, printing drums 15 and lo remain inactive. On the other hand, upon initiation of each operation of the tape feed mechanism 20 (FlG. 1) to provide a postmarked tape strip, clutch control link 138 (FIGS. 12 and 13) is moved to the left to effect engagement of the main drive clutch 31 for a synchronous, cyclic operation of the printing drums 15 and 16. Immediately, upon rotation of auxiliary printing drum shaft by means of gears 112 and 114 (FlG. 10), disk 253 rocks bellcrank 250 and, therefore, shaft 243 and arm 242 clockwise (FIG. 13) to enable lobe 244 on bellcrank 240 to drop into active engagement with ear 245 on clutch-engaging bellcrank 2M. During the cycle of rotation of disk 253, roller 251 rides on the peripheral surface thereof, and upon completion of the cycle of rotation of the disk, the roller engages in notch 252 under the urgency of spring 254, thereby rocking shaft 243 and arm 242 couterclockwise to effect engagement of the Zero resetting clutch 202, as seen in FIG. 15.

Following a single cycle of operation, zero resetting clutch 202 is disengaged by the engagement of the free end of pawl 204 with the nose 214 of the clutch-engaging bellcrank 216. Immediately upon rotation of clutch 202, lever 258 is rocked and the pin 256 thereon, in engagement with bellcrank 240, releases the lobe 244 of bellcrank 240 from its active engagement with ear 245, thereby enabling return of the bellcrank 216 to the clutchdisengaging position under the iniluence of spring 246. As the clutch 202 reaches its full-cycle position, the roller 259 on lever 258 drops into the notch in the clutch disk 206, enabling the bellcrank 240 to be rocked under the iniluence of spring 246 so that the lower surface of the lobe 244 rests on the top surface of the ear 245.

In order to prevent cyclic operation of the zero resetting clutch 202, following each cycle of operation of the printing drums 15 and 16 during a postage metering operation, control knob 200 is adjusted to the Seal and Meter setting as shown in FIG. 1. As the knob 200 is rocked to the Seal and Meter setting, arm 276 on shaft 201 is rocked clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 15 to that shown in FIG. 14, whereby pin 277 engages the surface 280 of the arm 279 of bellcrank 240, camming the bellcrank 240 in a counterclockwise direction to raise the lobe 244 out of engagement with the top surface of the ear 245 on clutch control bellcrank 216. Thereafter, the pin 277 engages in the notch 278 of the arm 279 to maintain bellcrank 240 in the inoperative position shown in FIG. 14. Thus, each subsequent rocking of the shaft 243, under control of disk 253, will be ineffective to control the engagement of the Zero resetting clutch 202.

I claim:

1. In a postage metering device having a rotary printing drum, a series of numeral type wheels mounted for adjustment in said printing drum, a plurality of manually diderentially settable members, one for each of said type wheels operable upon the differential setting thereof to adjust the corresponding one of said type wheels, and a zero resetting mechanism, the combination comprising a power-driven means for resetting said settable members through said zero resetting mechanism to adjust the corresponding type wheels to a zero representative position, and a manipulative means selectively operable to effect operation of said power-driven means. l

2. In a postage metering device having a rotary printing drum, a series of numeral type wheels adjustably mounted in said printing drum, a selection mechanism including manually settable members for adjusting said type wheels, a register including dials adjustable by said selection mechanism to indicate the adjustment of said type wheels, a drive means for effecting a cycle of rotation of said printing drum, and a zero resetting mechanism for said selection mechanism, said zero resetting mechanism comprisling means for controlling an operation of said manually settable members to reset said dials and said type Wheels Y' to a Zero representative position, a cyclically operable means for effecting operation of said controlling means, and means rendered operable by said drive means to enable operation of said cyclically operable means upon termination of a cycle of rotation of said printing drum.

3. In a postage metering device having a rotary printing drum, a series of numeral type Wheels mounted in Vsaid printing drum for rotation therewith and adjustable from a zero to a nonzero printing position, a selection mechanism including manually settable members, one for each of said type Wheels differentially movable from an inactive position to adjust the corresponding type wheels, a register, a differential actuating means for said register, means associated with each of said manually settable members positionable thereby relative to said actuating means to control a value registration in said register in accordance with the adjustment of the corresponding type wheels, a drive means for said printing drum and said actuating means, a cyclically operable clutch for controlling operation ot' said drive means, and a zero resetting mechanism for resetting said selection mechanism to the inactive position, said zero resetting mechanism comprising a reciprocable rack member for restoring each of said settable members from a differentially adjusted position to the inactive position thereof, a rack sector rockable to control the reciprocation of said rack member, means for rocking said rack sector, a cyclic clutch, means actuated by said cyclic clutch upon engagement thereof to control operation of said rocking means, a manipulable control means, means adjustable by said manipulable control means to selectively control the engagement of said cyclic clutch, and means rendered operable by said drive means to etect operation of said adjustable means upon termination of a cycle of operation of said cyclically operable clutch.

4. in a device of the character described, value setup devices including a plurality of independent orders of manually settable members adjustable from a zero representative position to a value representative position, a rack slide reciprocable to restore said settable members from an adjusted value representative position to the zero representative position, a rack sector rockable to-and-fro to control the reciprocation of said rack slide, a cyclically operable clutch, power means for driving said clutch upon engagement thereof, a clutch control means enabled selectively by said power means to control cyclic operation of said clutch, a cam member driven by said clutch, and means driven by said cam for rocking said rack sector upon a cycle of operation of said clutch.

5. In a device of the character described in claim 4, said clutch control means comprising means movable from a clutch-disengaging position to a clutch-engaging position, means engageable with said movable means to control the movement of said movable means to clutchengaging position, means driven by said power means for controlling engagement of said engageable means and the movement of said movable means to clutch-engaging position, and a manipulative control means selectively adjustable to supersede the operation of said power means to effect engagement of said engageable means with said movable means and the subsequent movement of said movable means to clutch-engaging position.

6. In a device of the character described in claim 5, a clutch driven means operable to effect a disengagement of said engageable means from said movable means subsequent to the movement of said movable means to clutch-engaging position, and resilient means operative to restore said movable means to clutch-disengaging position substantially simultaneously with the operation of said clutch driven means.

7. In a device of the character described, a selection mechanism including a plurality of manually adjustable members independently settabie differentially from a zero representative position to a value representative position, means for resetting said manually adjustable members to the zero representative position when displaced therefrom, a power-driven means for actuating said resetting means, a disabling means for said power-driven means movable from an active to an inactive position, a manually operable control means settable in either of two positions, means for resiliently maintaining said manual control means in either adjusted position thereof, means engageable with said disabling means for controlling tne movement of said disabling means to an inactive position, means controlled by said manual control means upon adjustment to one of said two positions to maintain said engageable means out of engagement with said disabling means, and means rendered operable by said manual control means upon adjustment to the other' of said two positions to eilect engagement of said engageablc means with said disabling means and movement oi` said disabling means to an inactive position to enable operation of said power-driven means.

8. ln a device ot the character described, a selection mechanism including a plurality ot manually adjustable members independently scttable differentially from a zero representative position to a value representative position, means for resetting said adjustable members to the zero representative position when displaced therefrom, a cyclically operable clutch, means driven by said clutch upon engagement thereof operable to control operation of said resetting means, a rockable means for electing the engagement of said clutch, resilient means normally maintaining said rockable means in clutch-disengaging position, a normally inoperatively positioned clutch control means movable in one direction for engagement with said rockable means and in the opposite direction to rock said rockable means to clutch-engaging position, power-operated means for controlling the movement of said clutch control means, a manipulative member selectively settable from an inactive to an active position operable in the inactive position thereof of prevent operation of said clutch control means, and means rendered operable by said manipulative member upon adjustment to the active position thereof to unable operation of said power-operated means.

9. In a device of the character described, a selection mechanism di'erentially settable from a zero representative position to a value representative position, means for resetting said selection mechanism from a value representative position to the zero representative position thereof, a cyclically operable clutch, power means for driving said clutch, cam means driven by said clutch, means actuated bysaid cam means for controlling operation ot said resetting means upon engagement of said clutch, a clutch-engaging member rockable from an inactive 'to an active position, a shaft rockable first in one direction and then the other direction, means driven by said power means operable to control the rocking movement oi said shafameans carried by said shaft engageable with said clutch-engaging member upon rocking movement of said shaft in said one direction and effective to rock said clutch-engaging member to the active position upon rocking movement of said shaft in said other direction, a manually adjustable control means normally operable to disable said engageable means, and means rendered operable by said manual control means upon adjustment thereof to eiect theV rocking movementV of said shaft independent of said power means.

l0. ln a device of the character described, a selection mechanism dillerentially settable from a zero representative position'to a value representative position, means for resetting said Vselection mechanismto the zero representative positioma power-driven means for controlling operation'of said resetting means, means movable from an inactive to an active position to enable operation of said power-driven means, resilient means normally operable to maintain said movable means in the inactive position, a'shat rockable in either direction, VmeansV normally biasing said shaft in one direction, an arm secured on Vsaid shaft for rocking movement therewith, a lever carried by said arm normally disengaged from-said movable VVmeans operable for engagement with said V,movable means upon rocking movement of said shaft in the other direction, a manipulative control member, means rendered operable by said manipulative vmember upon operation thereof to rock said shaft in said other direction and to thereafter enable operation of said biasing means thereby etlecting ,movementV of said movable'means to the active' position, Vand means controlled by saidpowerdriven means for disengaging said lever from said mov-Y able means thereby enabling said resilient means to restore said movable means to the inactive position terminating operation of said power-driven means following the operation of said resetting means.

ll. ln a device of the character described, a selection mechanism including a plurality of independently settable members differentially adjustable from a zero representative position to a value representative position, a register, an actuating means, means positionable by said settable members for control by said actuating means to eect registration of a value in said register in accordance with the adjustment of said settable members, a reciprocable member for restoring said settable members from an adjustcd position to the zero representative position, a rst clutch operable upon engagement thereof to drive said actuating means, operational control means for effecting engagement of said first clutch, a second clutch, means actuated by said second clutch upon engagement thereof operable to control operation of said reciprocable member, means controlled by the operation of said lirst clutch to eiect engagement ot said second clutch subsequent to the operation of said actuating means, and manual control means selectively adjustable to either of two positions operable in one adjusted position to enable the operation of said controlled means and operable in the other of said two positions to disable said controlled means, said manual control means being effective upon movement from said other of said two positions to said one position to cause operation of said controlled means independently of the control by said first clutch.

l2. In a device of the character described having a selection mechanism including ordinal elements settable nfrom a zero representative position to a value representative position, a register, a differential actuating means, means adjustable by said ordinal elements for operation by said actuating means to effect registration of a value in said register in accordance with the setting of said ordinal elements, a printing device, numeral type wheels Within said printing device adjustable by said ordinal elements to a value print position, a cyclically operable clutch, means driven by said cyclically operable clutch for controlling operation of said actuating means and said printing device7 operational control means for effecting engagement of said cyclically operable clutch, and a zero resetting mechanism for said selection mechanism, the combinationV comprising means for restoring said ordinal elements from a value representative position to the zero representative position, power-operated means for controlling operation of said restoring means, means controlled by said cyclically operable clutch operable subsequent to each cycle of operation of said clutch to initiate operation of said power-operated means, and means actuated by said power-operated'means operable to disable said operational control means during the operation of said restoring means.

13. ln a device of the character described having a VSelection lmechanism including ordinal elements settable engagement of said cyclically operable clutch, and a zero resetting mechanism for said selection mechanism, the combmation comprising means for returning said elements from an adjusted position to the zero representative position, a cyclic clutch, means actuated by said Y cyclic clutch for controlling operation of said returning means, means rockable from an inactive to an active position to elect engagement of said cyclic clutch, means biasingV said rockable means to the inactive position, a normally disengaged reciprocable member associated with said Vrocltable means operable upon movement in one direction to engage saidrockable means and to rock said roclzable means to the active position upon movement in the other direction, a manipulative control member selectively adjustable to either of two positions, means for controlling the reciprocation of said reciprocable member, means driven by said cyclically operable clutch operable in either adjusted position of said manipulative member to actuate said reciprocation control means in timed relation to the operation of said actuating means, means operated by said manipulative member in one adjusted position thereof to latch said reciprocable member in the normally disengaged position, means controlled by said manipulative member upon adjustment to the other position thereof to disable one of said pair of operational control means and to e'ect operation of said reciprocation control means, and means rendered operable by said cyclic clutch to disable the other of said operational control means during operation of said returning means and to disengage said reciprocable member from said rockaible means thereby enabling operation of said biasing means to effect a disenvagement of said cyclic clutch.

14. In a device of the character described having a selection mechanism including ordinal elements settable from a zero representative position to a value representative position, a register and an actuating means therefor, a first cyclic clutch for operating said actuating means, a first clutch-engaging means, a pair of operational control means, each selectively operable to control operation of said iirst clutch-engaging means, means normally biasing said iirst clutch-engaging means to clutch-disengaging position, means associated with said first clutch operable during the cycle of operation of the clutch to enable operation of said biasing means and the termination of the operation of said first clutch in the full-cycle position thereof, and a zeroizing mechanism for said selection mechanism, the combination comprising a power-operated means for resetting said elements from an adjusted position to the zero representative position, a second cyclic clutch, a iirst cam means driven by said second cyclic clutch operable to actuate said power-operated means, a second clutch-engaging means movable from an inactive to an active position, resilient means normally maintaining said second clutch-engaging means in the inactive position, a spring-operated means for moving said second clutch-engaging means to the active position, and a second cam means driven by said irst cyclic clutch operable to enable operation of said spring-operated means following operation of said associated means and the disengagement of said rst clutch.

l5. ln a device of the character described having a selection mechanism including a plurality of ordinally arranged elements independently settable differentially froma Zero representative position to a value representative position, a register, a cyclically operable actuating means for controlling the registration of a value in said register in accordance with the adjustment of said elements, a driving means for controlling cyclic operation of said actuating means, a plurality of operational control means, means selectively operable by each of said operational control means to effect operation of said driving means, and a Zeroizing mechanism for said selection mechanism, the combination comprising a cyclic clutch and means actuated by said clutch to restore said elements to the zero representative position, a clutch control means for controlling the engagement and disengagement of said clutch for a cycle of operation, a manipulative means selectively settable in either of two positions operable in one adjusted position thereof to disable said clutch control means and operable upon adjustment from said one position to the other position to eifect operation of said clutch control means and to render one of said operational control means inoperative, means driven by said driving means operable to effect operation of said clutch control means subsequent to the cycle of operation of said actuating means and the adjustment of said manipulative means to the other of said two positions upon initiation of an operation of said driving means by the other of said operational control means, and means rendered operable by said clutch to disable operation of the other of said operational control means during the cycle of operation of said clutch.

16. In a device of the character described having a base member containing a cyclically operable drive means, control means selectively operable to initiate operation of said drive means, a meter detachably mounted on said base member and containing value setup devices adjustable from a Zero representative position to a value representative position and printing devices adjustable by said Vahle setup devices and rotatable to a print position for the ta'king of an impression therefrom, means for controlling rotation of said printing devices connectable with said drive means upon operatively positioning said meter on said base, and a Zero resetting mechanism for said meter, the combination comprising means supported in said meter operable to restore said value setup devices to the zero representative position when displaced therefrom, a power-driven means connectable with said restore means for controlling operation of said restore means, a cyclic clutch for controlling operation of said powerdriven means, means actuated by said drive means operable to effect operation of said cyclic clutch in timed relation to the rotation of said printing devices, said powerdriven means, cyclic clutch and actuated means being mounted in said base member, and means connecting said power-driven means with said restore means upon operatively positioning said meter on said base member.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,056,485 Robertson Oct. 6, 1936 2,152,320 Llorens Mar. 28, 1939 2,170,270 Thatcher Aug. 29, 1939 2,726,812 Uhl Dec. 13, 1955 2,832,530 Chall Apr. 29, 1958 2,942,776 Anderson June 28, 1960 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No., 3,123, 292 March 3 1964 Ingemar H. Lundquist It vis hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring Correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3, line 48, for "3,062,113" read 3,062,133

line 68, for "conveyer" read conveyed column 8, line 3.1, for Y'point" read print 1ine 44, after "increment" insert of rotation column 11, line 18, for "poistion"Y read position column 13, line 10, lafter "approximately" insert a comme; column 17, line 8, for "couterclockwise" read counterclockwise column 19, line 26, for "of" read Signed and sealed this 20th day of October 1964.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER EDWARD J. BRENNER l Attestin-g Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. IN A POSTAGE METERING DEVICE HAVING A ROTARY PRINTING DRUM, A SERIES OF NUMERAL TYPE WHEELS MOUNTED FOR ADJUSTMENT IN SAID PRINTING DRUM, A PLURALITY OF MANUALLY DIFFERENTIALLY SETTABLE MEMBERS, ONE FOR EACH OF SAID TYPE WHEELS OPERABLE UPON THE DIFFERENTIAL SETTING THEREOF TO ADJUST THE CORRESPONDING ONE OF SAID TYPE WHEELS, AND A ZERO RESETTING MECHANISM, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A POWER-DRIVEN MEANS FOR RESETTING SAID SETTABLE MEMBERS THROUGH SAID ZERO RESETTING MECHANISM TO ADJUST THE CORRESPONDING TYPE WHEELS TO A ZERO REPRESENTATIVE POSITION, AND A MANIPULATIVE MEANS SELECTIVELY OPERABLE TO EFFECT OPERATION OF SAID POWER-DRIVEN MEANS. 